Editor’s Note: This article was adapted from Lyn Slater’s “How to Be Old: Training in Living Confidently from the Accidental Icon” with authority from Plume, a company owned by Penguin Random House, LLC. Lyn Slater’s 2024.
A group of Perkins Fashion Design and Society MFA pupils were assigned the task of making a collection of clothing for “elders” in the fall of 2019 as part of a program that involved designing designs that would include those that were disabled, plus-size, transgender, and aging individuals. To ensure key research and a significant results, the learners were divided into four groups, with each team being asked to find a mentor or collaborator in their respective categories. I was approached by the students in an effort to be their artist.
The kids had questioned what older people wanted in their clothes when they had visited senior centers. The comments had deterred them and had focused more on problems of fit, comfort, and disguising signs of aging. Although these factors are significant, the students appeared to want to create an aesthetic of time that could encourage them, and they want to create old-fashioned large fashion, something more than just function. (I think to myself, these young, fashionable people want to create clothing that they can wear as they age.) However, as we speak up, they become enthralled and enthusiastic about the liquid internal encounter of aging, the memories held, and the desire to elicit them in our clothing. These kids and I begin our work together along with their coaches.
The process begins with me bringing in pieces from my clothing that have meaning for me, such as the Yohji Yamamoto fit I wore to my first day of school as a social function and law professor, and the skintight A-line dress with pastel green and purple flowers I wore underneath my postgraduate gown. I wear an enormous burnt-orange cover that drapes me like a cover when I want to feel comfortable and secure, and I also have a vintage American print outfit that I wore in the 1970s and today wear to the beach. Its colors have faded, and the thin cotton cloth, which has been worn for so long, is almost transparent, making it appear to be on the verge of deterioration.
We have many discussions about the experiences I had while wearing apparel throughout my life. We talk about how what I wear right now or what I want to use you make memories of events from various periods of my career. My younger friends are interested in learning how I became able to wear what I want, to wear clothes as tools to tell my own stories, and to see type as being individual to everyone.
I explained to them how my lover Calvin and I just were taking photos in Harlem and discovered the only Kangol hat store left in the world. Although I don’t wear hats, I once had a Kangol beret that I wore backwards while wearing overalls and a velvet shirt with Our Lady of Guadalupe silk-screened when I first started to explore my creative side in the early 1990s, just before I was about to turn 40. (I digress, the shirt was a nod to my preoccupation with Frida Kahlo after a trip to Mexico.)
The point is that I was transported back in time when I entered that business. I can recall the galleries I visited, the lessons I took, and the books I read while listening to the music. I try to explain to the students that I don’t need to wear clothing that evokes the emotions and memories I had when I was younger. A sense of place and time can be conveyed by a fashion approach that comes from our distinct identities. And a piece of clothing or an item that contains story can be used to tell a story, one that is just as unique as the wearer.
I and the kids discuss what being ancient is all about. Each month, I arrive for a criticism of what they design. This becomes a discussion about how our body alter as we get older.
We had the opportunity to question prejudices and preconceived notions about being old as the coaches and I observed as they entered the periods. how, for instance, the students completely cover me when they don’t acknowledge that I might still be a sexual being. Other people’s clothing is typically worn to conceal their aging body. The fabric become more clear after this discussion, but they continue to be respectful.
Clothing made for aging body typically is not contemporary or delegate because it doesn’t consider the disconnect between the internal activities of older individuals and the fact of their physical bodies. Some older people still feel upbeat and upbeat.
This results in the creation of beautifully crafted bespoke textiles, and clothing that conveys the sexuality and rebellious spirit that however resides in me. The students create a gown made of knitted Paisley prints in oranges and earth tones, a black cover with apparent layers of various shades and dark textures, and a shirt with green and purple flowers embroidered on a spider web. These are works that transcend memory and aging into something contemporary and innovative, not just a long-lived review.
Each clothing created turned into a picture that told a life story, a story that revealed some secrets about how to get old.
They benefited from the process by understanding the development of personality as chance and disproving conventional notions of the “ideal” system. They added years of recollection and meaning to their designs, and they saw aging in a way that was antioxidant rather than layering, giving them something to look forward to.
The clothing I received from the kids made me feel understood. Working with younger people and jointly resolving this issue make me think about the value of familial partnership, thoughtful listening, and respect for one another. Can you picture how we might alter our perceptions of being old or young if we collaborated but effectively on the many issues we face today?